Railway-switch.



' F. MALONE.

RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED nov. 12, 1009.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1a. 1909.

Patented Sept. 13,1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK MALONE, 0F FRONTIER, WYOMING, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES S. BEACH AND ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM KNOX, BOTH 0F FRONTIER, WYOMING.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MALONE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Frontier, in the county of Uinta and State of WVyoming, have invented a new and useful Railway-Switch, of which the following .is a specification.

This invention relates to railway switches and one of its objects is to provide a device of this character particularly designed for use in connection with tracks such as used at mines and the like, the principal object of the .invention being to provide a switch which is actuated by the wheels of a car traveling in one direction so as to direct a car which is moving in the opposite direction, onto the proper track.

Another object is to provide a switch stand having means whereby the switch tongues are held in their shifted positions until actuated by the car wheels designed to shift the switch, each said switch stand including means for facilitating the operation of the switch mechanism and insuring the proper placing of the switch tongues upon the completion of the movement thereof in either direction.

\Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a switch stand embodying the present improvements. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a View showing in diagram one arrangement of tracks with which the switch stand may be used. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing another arrangement of tracks with which said stands can be used.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates metal standards having bases 2 designed to be bolted or otherwise fastened to a supporting structure, the standards projecting at their upper ends, between the ends of parallel arcuate strips 3 while the side strips 4 are secured to opposite sides of the standards 1 at points between the ends thereof. A main lever 5 is fulcrumed, as at 6, between the middle portions of the stop strips 3 and has its lower end forked as shown at 7 to receive the upper end of a secondary lever 8, there being a longitudinal slot 9 in the upper end of this secondary lever for the reception of a connecting pin 10 which extends transversely through the forks and is designed to slide within the slot 9.

Oppositely extending studs 11 are arranged upon the sides of the secondary lever 8 adjacent the lower end thereof and the switch rod 12 is pivoted upon them, this rod being shown only in Fig. 1. Said studs also project into eyes 13 formed at the lower ends of coiled springs 14 the upper ends of these springs being detachably engaged by hooks 15 formed at the lower ends of the screw threaded rods 16. Those rods are adjustably engaged by turn buckles 17 the said buckles being swiveled upon pins 18. extending from eyes 19. Said eyes are pivotally mounted upon oppositely extending studs 20 projecting from the sides of the lever 5 at points above the fulcrum 6. It will be apparent of course that the springs 14 are constantly under stress and that the two levers 5 and 8 are thus held thereby normally out of alinement as shown in Fig. 1. WVhen the lever 5 is shifted to a position in alineinent with the lever 8, the said lever 8 being simultaneously actuated with the lever 5 by the pin 10, the springs 14 become elongated but as soon as the said levers pass the dead center, the springs contract and serve to complete the movement of the lovers.

The switch stands and mechanism above described are especially designed for use in connection with a track such as has been illustrated in Fig. 3. This track consists of three rails 21, 22 and 23, the rails 21 and 23 convergingto form the two track rail such as shown at 2 1. Diverging rails 25 and 26 extend from the middle rail 22 to ward the respective rails of the track 24, the points of these rails 25 and 26 being con nected to the rod 12 which extends from the switch stand designated generally at A and which is similar in construction to the stand shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is to be understood that the two points of the rails 25 and 26 are shiftable together so as to direct a car from the track 21 onto either the rail 25 or the rail 26. A pivoted switch tongue 27 is interposed between the middle rail 22 and the dlverging rails 25 and 26 and is attached to a rod 12 connected to the mech anisin within another switch stand A. The parts are so proportioned in this stand that when the mechanism is shifted, the tongue 27 will constitute a continuation of either the rail 25 or the rail 26.

When a car approaches the track 24 from the track formed by rails 21 and 22 the flanges of the wheels at one side thereof will ride against the tongue 27 and shift it into the position shown by dotted line in Fig. 3,- the said car being thus movable along the tongue 27 and track 21 to the rail 26 and thence to track 24 the wheels of the car serving to shift the points of the rails 25 and 26 laterally. These movements of the tongue 27 and the points of rails 25 and 26 will be sufficient to actuate the levers 8 and 5 in the manner heretofore described so as to cause the springs 14 to become elongated du'ring the first half of the movements of the tongue and points and to contact during the second half of this movement, thus insuring the positive shifting of the tongue and points until brought to their proper positions. It will be seen therefore that when the car returns along the track 24 it will be guided back to the same track 1 from which it was received, to-wit, the track made up of the rails 21 and 22. When another car approaches the track 24 by Way of the rails 22 and 23 the foregoing operation will be reversed to insure the return of said car from track 24 to said rails 22 and 23.

In Fig. 4 another arrangement of tracks has been shown, this consisting of three two rail tracks converging into one three rail track. The two rail tracks have been indicated at 28, 29 and 30', it being apparent that the inner rails of the tracks 28 and 30 converge and merge into shiftable points 31 and 32 which are constantly held yielding ly against themiddle rail 33 of the three rail track 34 in any preferred manner as by means of springs 35. The outer rails of the tracks 28 and 30 converge to form the side rails of the track 34. The rails of the middle track 29 diverge toward the track 34 and terminate in points 36 which are shiftable with the points 31 and 32 heretofore referred to. The middle rail 33 of track 34 has a pivoted tongue 37 which is connected to the rod 12 of switch stand A and is designed to aline with either of two rails 38, these rails diverging away from the rail and terminating in shiftab'le points 39 located between the rails of the middle track 29. Said points are attached to a rod 12 extending into another switch stand A it being understood that both of these st ch stands are similar in construction to those shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Those portions of the inner rails of tracks 28 and 30 located at opposite sides of the shiftable tongue 37, are removed and pivoted tongues 40 and 41 are substituted therefor said tongues being connected to the rod 12 which isattaehed to the tongue 37.- The said tongues 40 and 41 are so located that when the tongue 37 is in alinenient with one of the rails 38, one of thetongues 40 or 41 is in alinement with the rail of the track 28 or 30. The inner rails of said tracks 28 and 30 are also provided with pivoted tongues 42 and 43 which are pivotally connected to the rod 12 to which the points 39 are attached, these tongues42 and 43 being designed to alternately aline with their respective rails.

The track 29 is designed to hold loaded cars while the tracks 28 and 30 may be utilized by empty cars. With the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 4 a loaded car will pass from the track 29 onto the upper half of the track 34. Cars returning will pass along the lower half of the track 34 and will be guided along the point 32 to the track 30, the car wheels during this movement, serving to shift the tongue 41 laterally Into the position shown by dotted lines and cause ing a corresponding movement of the other tongues 37 and'40'. The wheels of said car will also move against the tongue 43 and shift the points 39 intoa position opposite to that shown in Fig. 4 and also shift the tongue 42 into the position shown by dotted lines in said figi'i're. It will be seen therefore that the next loaded ca'r traveling along the track 29 will be directed by the tongues onto the lower half of the track 34 and when cars return on the upper half of said track it will then shift the various tongues so as to bring the parts into the positions shown in Fig. 4. It is to be understood that during all these movements of the tongues the levers 5 and 8 on the switch stands A are shifted back and forth, the spring 14 serving to hold the tongues in the position to which they are moved and operating to automatically shift the tongues during the last half of the movement thereof. It is to be understood of course that if desired, each of the sets of tongues can be actuated manu ally by shifting the lever 5. Moreover, if preferred, weights may be substituted for the springs shown in Fig. 2. It is to be understood that various other changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advan: tages of the invention.

What is claimed is v 1. A railway switch including a plurality of tracks merging into a single track, a

v switch tongue for controlling the movement of cars along the tracks, a car actuated member connected to and adapted to shift the tongue, and a switch stand connected to the tongue and member and including means for holding each of them normally in ieither of two positions,- said stand being actuated by the car actuated member.-

2. A railway switch including a plurality of tracks merging into a single track, a switch tongue for controlling the movement of cars along the tracks, a rod connected to said tongue, a car actuated member connected to the rod for shifting the tongue, a switch stand, said stand including a supporting structure, a main lever fulcrumed therein, a secondary lever fulcrumed within the supporting structure, the adjoining ends of the levers being pivotally and slidably. connected, said rod being attached to the other end of the secondary lever, and an adjustable spring connection between the two levers, the fulcrums of said levers being disposed between the points of connection between said spring and the levers, said spring being adapted to hold the levers normally out of alinement.

3. Appa'atus of the class described in- 2o eluding a plurality of tracks, a switch tongue for controlling the movement of a car along one of the tracks, a car actuated member upon another track, a connection between said tongue and member for insur- 25 ing simultaneous movement thereof and a switch stand connected to the tongue and actuating member, said stand including means for holding the tongue and member normally in either of two positions. 30

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature 1n the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK MALONE.

Witnesses:

D. E. SULLIVAN, FRANK PFEIFFER. 

